Symbiotic Smartwatch Displays

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the technology provide a symbiotic graphical display on a client device such as a smartwatch. The system includes at least one emissive display element and at least one non-emissive display element. The display elements are arrayed in layers or other configurations such that content or other information is concurrently aligned across the respective display surfaces of the different elements. A first set of content is rendered using the non-emissive display element while a second set of content is rendered using the emissive display element. Depending on characteristics or features of a given content item, that item may be rendered by one or both of the display elements. Certain content may be transitioned from the emissive display element to the non-emissive display element according to a time threshold or other criteria.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/541,532, filed on Aug. 15, 2019, which claims the benefit ofthe filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/739,479,filed Oct. 1, 2018, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Personal information technology has rapidly evolved with theintroduction of smartphones. Smartphones are nearly ubiquitous, but arebeing supplemented and in some instance replaced by other electronics.Wearable devices with smaller form factors have more recently been usedto provide users with activity information, notifications and otherfunctionality in a user-friendly manner One type of wearable device thatis becoming more and more popular is the smartwatch. In addition totelling time, smartwatches may run various apps and or perform in amanner similar to a smartphone. Thus, smartwatches can address thesmartphone size issue, and may provide relevant information to a user ina more discreet manner than a smartphone.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Smartwatches may employ emissive displays, non-emissive displays, and insome situations both emissive and non-emissive displays. Both types ofdisplays have different benefits and limitations.

Emissive displays are useful because they are able to providehigh-resolution, full-color imagery at video frame rates, and do notrequire another light source for readability. However, existing lightemitting displays may not effectively handle daylight visibility orotherwise provide sufficient contrast under certain conditions.Unnecessarily bright displays in a dimly lit place, such as a movietheater, can be distracting to the wearer and others nearby. The emittedlight can cause eye strain with extended wearer interactions. Inaddition, emissive displays are power hungry, using battery power justby being turned on.

In contrast, non-emissive displays are able to provide excellentreadability in bright environments (e.g., outdoors), with high contrastand reduced eye strain relative to emissive displays. Unfortunately,non-emissive displays typically have a limited refresh rate and colordepth. These limitations can make them unsuitable for interactive appsand video.

Given the relative strengths and weaknesses of emissive and non-emissivedisplays, certain approaches attempt to employ both types of displays inthe same device with layered transparent displays. However, suchapproaches treat each display, or layer, independently of the other.Thus, whether an emissive or a non-emissive display is active may bebased on the use case. This can result in unnecessary power consumption,poor readability and other issues when content has different aspectsthat are not well-suited to one particular type of display.

Rather than having to compromise what qualities to prioritize, thepresent technology combines the advantageous features of emissive andnon-emissive displays through a symbiotic display architecture. This isdone in a way that leverages the strengths and efficiencies of thedifferent display components. The result is a robust approach thatprovides beneficial content to the wearer, while saving power, reducingeye strain and minimizing distractions to others nearby.

According to one aspect of the technology, a smartwatch configured topresent content to a wearer is provided. The smartwatch comprises a userinterface subsystem including one or more actuator elements configuredto receive input from the wearer, an emissive display element, anon-emissive display element and one or more processors. The emissivedisplay element is disposed along a first area of a housing of thesmartwatch. The emissive display element has a first set of renderspeeds or update rates (one or more render speeds and/or one or moreupdate rates). The non-emissive display element is disposed along asecond area of the housing of the smartwatch which is separate from thefirst area. The non-emissive display element has a second set of renderspeeds or update rates (one or more render speeds and/or one or moreupdate rates) that are different from the first set of render speeds orupdate rates. The one or more processors are operatively coupled to theuser interface subsystem, the emissive display element and thenon-emissive display element. The one or more processors are configuredto determine at least one of an update rate or a refresh rate for eachof a plurality of content elements to be presented to the wearer andevaluate one or more display criteria including power consumption orvisual quality. For a first set of one or more of the plurality ofcontent elements having respective update rates or refresh rates above athreshold value or meeting at least one of the display criteria, the oneor more processors are configured to control the emissive displayelement to render the first set for presentation to the wearer. And fora second set of one or more other ones of the plurality of contentelements having respective update rates or refresh rates below thethreshold value or not meeting at least one of the display criteria, theone or more processors are configured to control the non-emissivedisplay element to render the second set for presentation to the wearer,so that the first and second sets of content elements are presentedconcurrently to the wearer.

In one example, the emissive display element comprises an organic lightemitting diode (OLED) display device. In this example, the non-emissivedisplay element may comprise either an electrophoretic display device ora liquid crystal display (LCD) device.

In one scenario, the first set of content elements includes inputtedtext or an animation. According to an example, in response to the userinterface subsystem receiving input from the wearer, the one or moreprocessors are configured to control the emissive display element torender the input received from the wearer.

In another example, the one or more processors are further configured todetermine that a selected period of time has elapsed since the first setof content elements has been rendered by the emissive display element.In response to the determination that the selected period of time haselapsed, the one or more processors are able to control the emissivedisplay element to cease render of the first set of content elements,and to control the non-emissive display element to render the first setof content elements. The one or more processors may be configured tocontrol the non-emissive display element to render the first set ofcontent elements along with the second set of content elements. And theselected period of time may be dependent upon a type of content of thefirst set of content elements.

In yet another example, the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to control the emissive display element to highlight aselected content element. The selected content element highlighted bythe emissive display element may rendered by the non-emissive displayelement. The highlight may be performed by increasing a brightness,coloring, or shading a portion of the emissive display element.

Furthermore, the visual quality may include one or more of brightness,color, texture, artifacts and emission.

According to another aspect of the technology, a method of operating agraphical display of a client device is provided. The graphical displayincludes an emissive display element having a first set of render speedsor update rates and a non-emissive display element having a second setof render speeds or update rates different from the first set of renderspeeds or update rates. The method includes determining, by one or moreprocessors of the client device, at least one of an update rate or arefresh rate for each of a plurality of content elements to be presentedto a user; evaluating, by the one or more processors, one or moredisplay criteria including power consumption or visual quality; for afirst set of one or more of the plurality of content elements havingrespective update rates or refresh rates above a threshold value ormeeting at least one of the display criteria, controlling the emissivedisplay element to render the first set for presentation to the user;and for a second set of one or more other ones of the plurality ofcontent elements having respective update rates or refresh rates belowthe threshold value or not meeting at least one of the display criteria,controlling the non-emissive display element to render the second setfor presentation to the user, so that the first and second sets ofcontent elements are presented concurrently via the graphical display.

In one example, the method further comprises receiving tactile oraudible input from the user. In response to receiving the input, the oneor more processors are further configured to control the emissivedisplay element to render the received input received.

In another example, the method further includes determining that aselected period of time has elapsed since the first set of contentelements has been rendered by the emissive display element. In responseto the determination that the selected period of time has elapsed, themethod also includes controlling the emissive display element to ceaserendering the first set of content elements, and controlling thenon-emissive display element to render the first set of contentelements. Here, the method may also include controlling the non-emissivedisplay element to render the first set of content elements along withthe second set of content elements. The selected period of time may bedependent upon a type of content of the first set of content elements.

In another example, the method further comprises controlling theemissive display element to augment a selected content element. Theselected content element augmented by the emissive display element maybe rendered by the non-emissive display element. The augmenting may beperformed by increasing a brightness, coloring, or shading a portion ofthe emissive display element. Alternatively, the augmenting includesreplicating the selected content item with the emissive display elementso that the emissive display element renders a complementary contentitem to be of a same size or shape as the selected content item. Here,the complementary content item is overlaid or offset from the selectedcontent item to obtain a particular visual effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of an example symbiotic displaysmartwatch in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example smartwatch in accordance with aspects ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an example pictorial diagram of a networked or ad hoc systemin accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a component view of a smartwatch in accordance withaspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 5A-5C illustrates an example of content transition between displayelements in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate an example of symbiotic display in accordancewith aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 7A-7B illustrate an example of displaying fast-changing content inaccordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrates an example of content highlighting in accordancewith aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a method of operating a symbiotic graphicaldisplay device in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

The technology employs complimentary usage of two (or more) emissive andnon-emissive display layers, such that the information is aligned acrossthe display surfaces. This structural approach enables enhanced userinterfaces, where in some examples selected content is rendered usingthe non-emissive display while other content is presented using theemissive layer.

Example System

As shown in FIG. 1 , a smartwatch 100 in accordance with aspects of thedisclosure includes various components. The smartwatch 100 may have oneor more computing devices, such as computing device 110 containing oneor more processors 112, memory 114 and other components typicallypresent in a smartphone or other personal computing device. The one ormore processors 112 may be processors such as commercially availableCPUs. Alternatively, the one or more processors may be a dedicateddevice such as an ASIC, a single or multi-core controller, or otherhardware-based processor.

The memory 114 stores information accessible by the one or moreprocessors 112, including instructions 116 and data 118 that may beexecuted or otherwise used by each processor 112. The memory 114 may be,e.g., a solid state memory or other type of non-transitory memorycapable of storing information accessible by the processor(s), includingwrite-capable and/or read-only memories.

The instructions 116 may be any set of instructions to be executeddirectly (such as machine code) or indirectly (such as scripts) by theprocessor. For example, the instructions may be stored as computingdevice code on the computing device-readable medium. In that regard, theterms “instructions” and “programs” may be used interchangeably herein.The instructions may be stored in object code format for directprocessing by the processor, or in any other computing device languageincluding scripts or collections of independent source code modules thatare interpreted on demand or compiled in advance. Functions, methods androutines of the instructions are explained in detail below.

The data 118 may be retrieved, stored or modified by processor 112 inaccordance with the instructions 116. As an example, data 118 of memory114 may store predefined scenarios. A given scenario may identify a setof scenario requirements including which display layer(s) will presentselected content.

User interface 120 includes various I/O elements. For instance, one ormore user inputs 122 such as mechanical actuators 124 and/or softactuators 126 are provided. The mechanical actuators 124 may include acrown, buttons, switches and other components. The soft actuators 126may be incorporated into a touchscreen cover, e.g., a resistive orcapacitive touch screen. Also part of the user interface 120 is agraphical display 128. Content items to be presented by the graphicaldisplay 128 are generated via underlying emissive and non-emissivedisplay layers, which are discussed in detail below.

An example watch configuration 200 with such a user interface 120 isshown in FIG. 2 . The example watch configuration 200 includes a watchhousing 202 and a band 204 connected thereto. The mechanical actuatorshere include crown 206 and a pair of supplemental buttons 208. Thenumber of mechanical actuators may vary, and may be more or less thanthe number shown. Actuators may be located on the band 204 in additionto or in place of actuators on the housing 202. In fact, in someinstances there may be no mechanical actuators on the housing 202 or theband 204. One or more soft actuators may be incorporated into cover 210.An hour hand 212 and a minute hand 214 may be presented by the userinterface 120. Depending on the watch functionality, one or moreadditional hand indicators, e.g., a seconds hand or an alarm hand, mayalso be presented. Or, alternatively, the watch style may dictate awatch having only one hand. In this example, the user interface 120includes a circular graphical display 216. However, the graphicaldisplay 216 may have a different shape or size depending on theconfiguration of the watch housing 202. For instance, the graphicaldisplay 216 may be square, rectangular, octagonal or a differentgeometric shape.

Returning to FIG. 1 , the user interface 120 may include additionalcomponents as well. By way of example, one or more sensors 130 may belocated on or within the watch housing. The sensors may include anaccelerometer 132, e.g., a 3-axis accelerometer, and/or a gyroscope 134.Other sensors may include a magnetometer, a barometric pressure sensor,an ambient temperature sensor, a skin temperature sensor, a heart ratemonitor, an oximetry sensor to measure blood oxygen levels, and agalvanic skin response sensor to determine exertion levels. Additionalor different sensors may also be employed.

The user interface 120 may also include one or more speakers,transducers or other audio outputs 136. A haptic interface or othertactile feedback 138 is used to provide non-visual and non-audibleinformation to the wearer. And one or more cameras 140 can be includedon the housing, band or incorporated into the display.

The smartwatch 100 also includes a position determination module 142,which may include a GPS subsystem 144 or other positioning systemcomponents. Information from the accelerometer 132, gyroscope 134 and/orfrom data received or determined from remote devices (e.g., wirelessbase stations or wireless access points), can be employed by theposition determination module 142 to calculate or otherwise estimate thephysical location of the smartwatch 100.

In order to obtain information from and send information to remotedevices, the smartwatch 100 may include a communication subsystem 146having a wireless network connection module 148, a wireless ad hocconnection module 150, and/or a wired connection module 152. While notshown, the communication subsystem 150 has a baseband section forprocessing data and a transceiver section for transmitting data to andreceiving data from the remote devices. The transceiver may operate atRF frequencies via one or more antennae. The wireless network connectionmodule 148 may be configured to support communication via cellular, LTE,4G and other networked architectures. The wireless ad hoc connectionmodule 150 may be configured to support Bluetooth®, Bluetooth LE, nearfield communications, and other non-networked wireless arrangements. Andthe wired connection 152 may include a USB, micro USB, USB type C orother connector, for example to receive data and/or power from a laptop,tablet, smartphone or other device.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial diagram of an example system 300 that includes oneor more smartwatches 310 or other wearable personal devices, as well asremote user devices such as smartphone 320, tablet computer 330, laptopcomputer 340, desktop PC 350 and a remote server system 360 connectedvia a network 370. System 300 may also include one or more databases380, which may be operatively associated with the server system 360.Although only a few devices are depicted for simplicity, the system 300may include significantly more. Each client device and the server systemmay include one or more processors, memory, data and instructions. Suchprocessors, memories, data and instructions may be configured similarlyto one or more processors, memory, data, and instructions of computingdevice 110. The smartwatch(es) 310 may also communicate directly withsmartphone 320, tablet computer 330, laptop computer 340 and/or desktopPC 350, for instance via an ad-hoc arrangement or wired link, as shownby the dash-dot arrows. The smartwatch(es) may obtain data,instructions, apps or other information from any of the remote devices,and may use such information when communicating with the user via theuser interface of the watch. For instance, an app on smartphone 320,tablet 330 or laptop 340 may provide information to or control what ispresented to the user on the smartwatch 310. This can include email,calendar or other content.

Returning to FIG. 1 , the smartwatch 100 also includes a symbioticdisplay system 154 that is configured to generate content for display tothe user via the graphical display 128, as well as an internal clock(s)160 and a power source(s) 162. One or more clocks provide timinginformation, which can be used for timekeeping, time measurement forapps and other programs run by the smartwatch, and basic operations bythe computing device(s) 110, GPS 144 and communication subsystem 146.And one or more power sources 162 provide power to the variouscomponents of the smartwatch. The power source(s) 162 may include, e.g.,a battery, winding mechanism, solar cell or combination thereof. Thecomputing devices may be operatively couples to these and othersubsystems and components via a wired bus or other link, includingwireless links.

The symbiotic display system 154 includes an emissive display element156 and a non-emissive display element 158. These display elements areconfigured to work together to generate different visualizations orother aspects of the displayed content. One example of the emissivedisplay element 156 is a transparent organic light emitting diode (TOLEDor transparent OLED) layer. Other exemplary emissive display elementsinclude active matrix LEDs (AMOLED) and passive matrix LEDs (PMOLED),although other types of emissive display elements may also be employed.The emissive display element may be greyscale, multi-color or a fullcolor display of, e.g., 6-bit, 8-bit or 16-bit resolution (or more).

The non-emissive display element 158 may be (but is not necessarily)bi-stable, which means that it does not require power to maintain thedisplayed information. In one example, the non-emissive display elementmay be an electronic ink (E-ink) or other type of electrophoreticdisplay element. In another example, the non-emissive display elementmay be a liquid crystal display (LCD) without backlight, although othertypes of non-emissive display elements may also be employed.

The non-emissive display element may be arranged as a circle or othershape depending on the overall appearance of the smartwatch, such asshown in FIG. 2 . Depending on the size and shape of the display,different resolutions and colors or greyscales may be employed. Forinstance, the resolution may be 180×180, 240×240, 960×540, 1448×1072,1200×1600, or higher or lower. The bit depth may be, e.g., 1-bit, 2-bit,4-bit or more. If greyscale is used instead of a color palette, thegreyscale may be, e.g., black and white, 4 greyscales, 16 greyscales ormore or less.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of an example smartwatch 400 in accordancewith aspects of the disclosure. Housing 402 is arranged to receive anon-emissive display element 404 and an emissive display element 406, aswell as a printed circuit board (PCB) 408, on which may reside theprocessors and other components of the smartwatch described above withregard to FIG. 1 . A cover 410, such as a transparent glass or plasticcover 410, is arranged to overly the emissive and non-emissive displayelements, and these components may form graphical display 128 of FIG. 1. A band 412 is affixed to the housing 402. And as shown, one or moremechanical actuators, e.g., tactile buttons 414 and 416, may be disposedon the housing 402 and operatively coupled to the PCB 414.

According to the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 4 , the emissivedisplay element 406 is disposed between the non-emissive display element404 and the cover 410. In one alternative, at least one small emissivedisplay elements may be arranged inset or next to the non-emissivedisplay element, e.g., in a co-planar configuration.

The non-emissive display element can provide, e.g., textual,slow-changing or stationary content for the user interface. The emissivedisplay element may be used to present content that has a faster updaterate (e.g., inputted text) or content that requires a faster refreshrate (e.g., animations). The emissive display element may also beemployed to highlighted content generated by the non-emissive displayelement, such as by increasing the brightness of an area of thegraphical display, by creating steerable illumination, etc. These aremerely examples. The processor(s) may select slowly changing or staticcontent to be rendered by the emissive display, and/or may select fasterchanging content or content with a faster refresh rate to be rendered bythe non-emissive display. This may be done as the processor(s) evaluateaspects including power consumption and visual quality, which includesfactors such as brightness, color, texture, artifacts and emission.

In another alternative, multiple emissive display elements may beprovided in a layered configuration. For instance, since monochromatictransparent OLEDs may be cheaper, thinner and/or more power efficientthan a single multicolor TOLED, the system may include two monochromaticTOLEDs, e.g., with green and yellow colors, respectively. More than twomonochromatic TOLEDs could also be provided. These layered TOLEDs can beturned on or off, either entirely or on a region or pixel-by-pixelbasis, to provide desired effects or other content visualizations withthe graphical display.

In yet another alternative, there may be multiple layers of non-emissivedisplay elements. By way of example, the non-emissive display element404 may comprise at least two layers, e.g., an electrophoretic displayelement and an LCD element without backlight. Here, the emissive displayelement 406, e.g., a multicolor TOLED, can be disposed between or on topof the non-emissive display layers (e.g., between the non-emissivedisplay layers and the cover). In this case, the LCD may have a lowerresolution than the electrophoretic display element, but can be used toselectively block certain areas or specific pixels of theelectrophoretic display element, in order to achieve a particularvisualization with the graphical display.

EXAMPLE SCENARIOS

The system uses the emissive and non-emissive display elements in aconcurrent and complementary manner, under the control of one or moreprocessors, such that content items or other features of the graphicaldisplay are aligned across the different display layers. This enhancesthe user interface by leveraging the advantages of each display layer.For instance, certain content may be static or slowly changing. Thistype of content is more efficiently generated for display by thenon-emissive display layer(s). In contrast, other content orenhancements to the static content may be fast changing or bestpresented with vibrant colors. This type of content lends itself togeneration by the emissive display element(s). Various examples andscenarios are discussed further below.

Transitioning Content Elements From Emissive Display to Non-EmissiveDisplay

As noted above, different types of emissive displays can be well-suitedto generate fast-changing content. Accordingly, in one type of scenariocontent that is new or undergoing modification is initially generated byan emissive display element, e.g., an emissive display layer disposedbetween a non-emissive display layer and the cover. An example of thistype of scenario is presented in FIGS. 5A-C. FIG. 5A illustratesgraphical display 500, in which an email message or other notificationis presented to the wearer of the smartwatch. Here, the notification ora portion of it is shown along the upper half of the graphical display,and options for handling the notification are presented along the lowerhalf. For instance, the wearer may elect to archive the message, deleteit or reply to it. A representation of a minute hand, an arrow or otherindicator may point or otherwise identify one or more of theuser-selectable options.

In this example, certain content is relatively static while othercontent may change. For instance, the notification may be received bythe smartwatch from an external device, or may be a reminder for an appexecuted by the processor(s). Here, the initial generation (rendering)of the notification and the indicator is performed by emissive displayelement 406, while generation of the user options and circular graphicalelement is performed by the non-emissive display element 404, as shownin separated layer view 510 of FIG. 5B. Then, as shown in separatedlayer view 520 of FIG. 5C, after a period of time has elapsed, thenotification is no longer generated by the emissive display element.Instead, the non-emissive display element is instructed by theprocessor(s) to generate the notification in addition to the othercontent. The emissive display element continues to generate theindicator, since that content item may need to be quickly modified,e.g., in response to user input.

The duration of time that the emissive display element presents selectedcontent before that content is generated by the non-emissive displayelement may vary according to one or more factors. These may include,predefined timing, the type of content, the amount of ambient light inthe environment, the amount of power available to run the emissivedisplay element, received signals and other factors. For instance, thetime period may be on the order of 30 seconds, between 5-45 seconds,less than 60 seconds, or at least 2 seconds.

Other examples for when content elements may be transitioned from theemissive display to the non-emissive display include the following. Whenthe user is setting the time on the smartwatch, the digits that arebeing changed are rendered with the emissive display element while otherinformation is rendered with the non-emissive display element. Duringtext entry or speech input, which requires fast update rates, theemissive display element renders the changing input. After the initialinput, for instance after 5-15 seconds, the previously entered contentthen becomes “permanently” presented using the non-emissive displayelement, such as for the duration of an action, until an app is closed,until the smartwatch is powered off, until the graphical display entersa power saving mode with reduced illumination or no contentpresentation, etc. Here, the emissive display element provides a dualpurpose as it implicitly indicates that it is receiving input.

Rapidly Changing Content

In other scenarios, the processor(s) may determine that certain contentwill remain static (e.g., for at least a certain period of time) whileother content may change (e.g., in response to received signals orsensor input, or anticipating an input signal from the user). In thesesituations, the processor(s) can instruct the non-emissive displayelement to render the static content while instructing the emissivedisplay element to render dynamic content so long as the visuals arepresented on the graphical interface.

As part of the processor's determination, the update speed of thenon-emissive display element can be one factor to evaluate, either aloneor in conjunction with power consumption and visual quality. Differenttypes of non-emissive display devices may have different update speedsand power requirements. For instance, an LCD may update faster than anelectrophoretic display. Fast updates can consume more power. In someinstances, such as with an electrophoretic display, rapid changes canpotentially leave some visual artifacts on the graphical display. Slowupdates may be more efficient and can make very clean image transitions.These criteria can be evaluated by the processor as part of the decisionprocess on whether to have the non-emissive display element rendercertain content rather than the emissive display element. In contrast,for certain information such as animations or content that requirehigh-frame updates above a given threshold (e.g., 1-10 Hz update rates),the processor may select the emissive display element to avoidartifacts, even if that causes a larger consumption of power.

FIGS. 6A-C illustrate one example for presenting rapidly changingcontent. Here, FIG. 6A illustrates graphical display 600, in which areminder or other notification is provided to the wearer. As shown inFIG. 6A, a notification or other information describing the reminder ispresented on the lower half of the graphical display. Other elements,such as simulated watch hands and a thick angular section representingthe duration of an event are presented in the upper half of thegraphical display. It should be understood that such elements can bepresented anywhere along the graphical display.

Generation of the dynamic parts of the notification is performed byemissive display element 406, while generation of the static parts isperformed by the non-emissive display element 404, as shown in separatedlayer view 610 of FIG. 6B. In this example, the dynamic parts of thenotification may be subject to modification by the wearer or changeaccording to other criteria. For instance, the user may modify theduration of a meeting (e.g., via a tactile adjustment using one or morefingers, via a voice command, etc.), while the simulated minute handmoves according to the time. Thus, as shown in separated layer view 620FIG. 6C, this type of content continues to be rendered by the emissivedisplay element while the other content is rendered by the non-emissivedisplay element.

FIGS. 7A-B illustrate another example. In this case, FIG. 7A illustratesgraphical display 700 showing an exercise app. Here, certain content isdynamic, such as the pace, which can be illustrated by a dial pointingto a percentage value and/or a set of icons representing the amount ofactivity, is rendered by the emissive display element 406 as shown inseparated view 710 of FIG. 7B. Other items, e.g., exercise time,distance, pulse rate, etc., may also be rendered by the emissive displayelement. In contrast generation of the static parts, such as time of dayand preset percentages, is performed by the non-emissive display element404.

According to a further example, to increase the sense of responsivenessin menus and navigation for the user interface, a cursor can be renderedwith fast updates on the emissive display element, whereas thenon-emissive display element would present mostly static informationuntil a selection is made.

Augmenting Content

Other scenarios in which the graphical display system divides therendering between the emissive and non-emissive displays involvehighlighting, emphasizing or otherwise augmenting content. For instance,an emissive display element can be used to indicate when numbers areapproaching undesirable limits, such as an elevated heart rate, or speedexceeding a particular threshold. By gradually increasing the brightnessof the emissive display element that is on top of the non-emissivedisplay element, the system is able to highlight the relevant contentand the user can get a sense of these changes as they slowly escalate.This approach also has the benefit of being visible in the periphery, aswell as giving the user an opportunity to stay close to the limit(slight increase in brightness) without exceeding it (strong light).

FIGS. 8A-C illustrate one example scenario. FIG. 8A includes graphicaldisplay 800 showing an exercise app. Here, the graphical displayincludes a first region (e.g., along the upper half) that indicateswhether the exercise is light, moderate or intense. This section may becolor-coded and/or include icons, graphics or other indicia to show thedifferent workout intensities. The graphical display also includes asecond region (e.g., along the lower half) that provides time andheartrate information. Other information may also be included dependingon user preferences, types of information, available display area andother factors.

In this example, as shown by 810 of FIG. 8B, certain features arerendered by the emissive display element. These features include colored(or greyscale) sections for the first region to delineate the workoutintensity ranges. They also include fast changing content such as anarrow, line or other graphic to show where the workout intensity fallsalong the first region. Static text and slowly changing content isrendered using the non-emissive display element.

As shown in this configuration, the non-emissive display elementgenerates a heart symbol 812 and a heartrate value 814 along with thecurrent time. The non-emissive display element also generates textexplaining the light, moderate and intense exercise levels, e.g., tocomplement the color scheme generated by the emissive display element.Here, the emissive display element may also generate a graphic 816 andvalue 818 that match those generated by the non-emissive displayelement. This can help accentuate these particular pieces of contents.In addition or in lieu of this, the emissive display element can alsoilluminate or highlight a region 819 around selected content itemsgenerated by the non-emissive display element. In this example, region819 is a small rectangular area used to highlight the heart symbol andthe heartrate value.

The graphical display layers 820 of FIG. 8C further illustrate this.Here, the region 819 of FIG. 8B may be further accentuated byhighlighting, shading, coloring, and/or placing a border 822 around thecontent of interest. The system may do this to indicate an elevatedheartrate in this example. Thus, it can be seen that the system isconfigured to use a selected portion of the emissive display element toaugment (e.g., highlight) a given item of content that is being renderedby the non-emissive display element. As noted above, such augmentationcan be achieved in multiple ways. This can include replicating the givencontent item in the emissive display layer, which could be of the sameor similar size and/or shape to make it appear bolded, slightly offsetby a pixel or more to give a 3D visual effect, etc. Augmenting can alsobe done by changing the illumination and/or color of the emissivedisplay layer overlaying the given content item.

In a further example of this approach, at night or in low-lightenvironments, the emissive display layer can be used to highlight orotherwise augment specific features with subtle illumination, forinstance to provide a minimum amount of light to enable the user to reada message or discern the location of content items (e.g., watch hands)presented by the non-emissive display layer.

The features and approaches from each of these scenarios and examplesmay be applied to any of the other scenarios and examples.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram 900 of a method of operating asymbiotic graphical display device as discussed herein. At block 902,one or more processors of the device determine at least one of an updaterate or a refresh rate for each content item to be presented on thegraphical display. For instance, the determination may include whether agiven item is static, slowly changing (e.g., over tens of seconds,minutes or hours), fast changing (e.g., within 1-10 seconds), flashing(e.g., changing one or more times a second) or require a specificrefresh rate. As noted above, other aspects that can be evaluated by theprocessor(s) include power consumption and visual quality factors suchas brightness, color, texture, artifacts and emission.

At block 904, for a first set of one or more content items that each hasa respective refresh rate or update rate above a threshold value, theone or more processors control an emissive display element (or multiplesuch elements) to render the first set of content items. Thus, fastchanging, flashing or non-static content items are generated forpresentation using the emissive display element.

At block 906, for a second set of one or more content items that eachhas a respective refresh rate or update rate below a threshold value,the one or more processors control a non-emissive display element (ormultiple such elements) to render the second set of content items. Thus,static or slowly changing items are generated for presentation using thenon-emissive display element.

Upon generation, per block 908 the rendered (generated) first and secondsets of content items are presented concurrently via the symbioticgraphical display device. These operations may occur concurrently (e.g.,in parallel), in series, or in a different order. The threshold valuesassociated with the operations for the emissive and non-emissive displayelements may be the same, or may be different.

Unless otherwise stated, the foregoing alternative examples are notmutually exclusive, but may be implemented in various combinations toachieve unique advantages. As these and other variations andcombinations of the features discussed above can be utilized withoutdeparting from the subject matter defined by the claims, the foregoingdescription of the embodiments should be taken by way of illustrationrather than by way of limitation of the subject matter defined by theclaims. In addition, the provision of the examples described herein, aswell as clauses phrased as “such as,” “including” and the like, shouldnot be interpreted as limiting the subject matter of the claims to thespecific examples; rather, the examples are intended to illustrate onlyone of many possible embodiments. Further, the same reference numbers indifferent drawings can identify the same or similar elements.

1. An electronic display device configured to present content to a user,the device comprising: a first display element configured to render afirst set of content elements in a first region; a second displayelement different from the first display element, the second displayelement configured to render a second set of content elements in asecond region in coordination with the rendering of the first contentelements by the first display element, such that the first and secondcontent elements are displayed concurrently in the first and secondregions, respectively; and a user interface subsystem configured toreceive input through at least one of the first or second displayelements.
 2. The electronic display device of claim 1, wherein the firstand second display elements are arranged in a co-planar configuration.3. The electronic display device of claim 1, wherein the second displayelement is arranged inset of the first display element.
 4. Theelectronic display device of claim 1, wherein the first display elementhas a different size than the second display element.
 5. The electronicdisplay device of claim 1, wherein the first display element has adifferent shape than the second display element.
 6. The electronicdisplay device of claim 1, wherein the first content elements changeless frequently than the second content elements.
 7. The electronicdisplay device of claim 1, wherein the first display element isconfigured to augment the second content rendered by the second displayelement.
 8. The electronic display device of claim 7, wherein theaugmenting comprises increasing a brightness, coloring, or shading aportion of the second display element.
 9. The electronic display deviceof claim 1, wherein the input received by the user interface subsystemchanges the second content rendered by the second display element. 10.The electronic display device of claim 1, wherein the first contentelements are static and the second content elements are dynamic.
 11. Theelectronic display device of claim 1, wherein the electronic displaydevice is a smartwatch.
 12. The electronic display device of claim 1,wherein the first and second display elements are arranged within acircular housing having a transparent cover overlaid over both the firstand second display elements.
 13. A smartwatch, comprising: a housing; afirst display element configured to render a first set of contentelements in a first region; a second display element different from thefirst display element, the second display element configured to render asecond set of content elements in a second region in coordination withthe rendering of the first content elements by the first displayelement, such that the first and second content elements are displayedconcurrently in the first and second regions, respectively; and a userinterface subsystem configured to receive input through at least one ofthe first or second display elements.
 14. The smartwatch of claim 13,wherein the first and second display elements are arranged in aco-planar configuration.
 15. The smartwatch of claim 13, wherein thesecond display element is arranged inset of the first display element.16. The smartwatch of claim 13, wherein the first display element has adifferent size than the second display element.
 17. The smartwatch ofclaim 13, wherein the first display element has a different shape thanthe second display element.
 18. The smartwatch of claim 13, wherein thefirst content elements change less frequently than the second contentelements.
 19. The smartwatch of claim 13, wherein the first displayelement is configured to augment the second content rendered by thesecond display element.
 20. The smartwatch of claim 19, wherein theaugmenting comprises increasing a brightness, coloring, or shading aportion of the second display element.